Brothers Dearest
by girliestarkid
Summary: The Salvatore brothers thought their sister, Gabrielle, had died long ago, and she did. She just didn't stay that way. This is the story of Gabrielle and her brothers. Rated T because I'm paranoid.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Stefan lay on his bed, looking up at the ceiling. He lay there, in only his striped cotton pajama pants, and thought about loss. He and his friends had lost so many people lately, and today is another day to honor his dead - one of many, but by far the most important.

_Today_, he thought. _Today was the day she died, all those years ago._ His breath hitched with the beginnings of a sob, and he breathed deeply to calm himself. Stefan couldn't afford a lapse in his control. He needed to keep his emotions in check so he wouldn't hurt anyone. But he couldn't stop the memories that overtook him. His little sister, dead before her life had really begun. He remembered her last moments...

Gabrielle was lying weakly on her bed, in her most comfortable nightgown. She had been sick for months now, and we all knew her time was approaching quickly. Her breathing was shallow, her chest barely rising and falling. She blinked slowly, as if her eyelids were too heavy to lift. Still, she looked up at me, looked deeply into my eyes. She had a very serious expression on her face. I looked into her eyes and read the defeat there, and the apology. So, today was the day she had chosen to give up fighting this sickness and die. I felt tears begin to form in my eyes. She turned away from my sorrow, and looked to Damon. She held her hands out, one for me, the other for Damon, and I held her hand tightly. I looked over at Damon and saw he had her hand trapped in between both of his, tears in the corners of his eyes. I could feel my own tears sliding down my face, but I made no move to stop them. I vowed then and there to never forget her last request – that Damon and I take care of each other and stop our fighting – and keep it with my whole heart. We both nodded when she asked it of us, adverse to the idea of denying her last wish. She gave a content sigh, smiled one last smile, and told Damon and I that she loved us. Then the lights went out of her eyes, and Gabrielle Salvatore was no more.

He remembered holding her hand until it was cold and stiff. She had only been 15 years old. She had been so young, so full of life… He pulled himself out of his memories. He couldn't bear to remember anymore, it was too painful. So Stefan quickly rose from his reclining position on his bed and got dressed before he was again sucked into the past. Once he was respectable, he headed for the door, ready for what he had been dreading. He paused at his shelf of journals, running his fingertips over their spines. So many thoughts, so many tragedies and joyful moments resided in these journals of his. He felt the familiar urge to write, to write until his fingers fell off, to try to get over this gut wrenching pain. He sank down into the hard backed chair near his door and scrubbed at his face, leaving his head in his hands. _Why am I so sad? _He thought to himself. _Elle would have died eventually, long before Damon or I, and she didn't stand a chance against the fever. So why does it hurt so much? _

* * *

Gabrielle was walking to the terminal she would be flying out from, looking at the flight board to see how much time she had left before her flight began to board. She heaved a relieved sigh. Her flight to Richmond was few hours late, giving her plenty of time to think over the insane snap decision she had made. So she walked over to the gate and settled into a chair, arranging her things around her in an overly neat way. How Damon would have laughed. He preferred chaos to organization, and he used to tease her about her lack of appreciation for chaos mercilessly. She smiled in memory, and then let herself became lost in her turbulent thoughts.

Gabrielle couldn't forget her former life, the life she had led so long ago. Jumbled memories whizzed past her eyelids. She remembered days spent playing with her brothers, running in the forest behind their home and playing games. It had been a life of joy and love, a life of actually living - a life so unlike the one she was living now. She frowned. Her life was a harsh life now, a life of anguish and death. Although, considering what terrible things she had done, she should really refer to it as an existence, not a life. Her existence was one in which she takes away life from people who deserve it. Gabrielle had become a killer, someone cold-blooded and merciless, someone who never needed protection. She smiled tightly, thinking of her overprotective brothers, Stefan and Damon, and how they try to anyway. Then she sighed. She missed them, missed them every minute of every day, missed them so much it hurt. _Well,_ she thought. _Soon enough, that hurt will stop._

Long ago, when she had discovered Stefan and Damon had been turned, she realized she couldn't just abandon her remaining family, couldn't just let them think she had died. She hadn't had the courage to go home before now. But now… after all of this killing… she couldn't stand it anymore. She couldn't stand to watch the light leave people's eyes because of her. She finally had the courage to face the music she had avoided for 148 years. She had to go home, go back to Mystic Falls, if only for some much-needed closure.

* * *

"Stefan?" Damon knocked on my door, opening it when I didn't respond.

"I can't do this," I whispered, my head still in my hands. I heard Damon sigh heavily next to me.

"I know," he said. He slid down the wall next to me. "Even after all this time, thinking about Ga-" Damon choked on her name. I looked over at him to see his devastated face. His eyes me mine and he continued after a deep breath. "Thinking about _her_ hurts, as it should. She was our little sister, Stefan, and she died." He paused for a moment, and then said softly, "She died, and she isn't coming back. We have to do this, Stefan, to remember her, to honor her." Stefan nodded, and got up from his seat, holding a hand out to Damon. Damon took it and allowed Stefan to pull him up. Then they went downstairs and got into one of their many cars, off to a very old cemetery.

* * *

_A/N: Review please! I know everyone says this, but I really do want to know what you think so... if you would be so kind as to review my humble work, I would be ecstatic. Thanks for reading!_


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N I'm so sorry for not posting earlier! My muses went on ****vacation without me, and didn't come back until yesterday :(. Also, ****I am now in an ****_awesome_**** writing partnership with my best friend, who shall remain nameless at this time. Anywho, I just want her to get credit for this (hopefully! Fingers crossed.) awesome chapter. ****Oh, quick note, this is before the break/hiatus or whatever you wanna call it on the show. Just to clear that up. :) Hope ya like the new chappie! Anyway, read on, dear readers! (But only if you want to…)**

* * *

Chapter 2

Gabrielle jerked awake in her wide, first class seat. She vaguely remembered the dream-more aptly described as a nightmare-but she could only remember hazy details. She did remember that she was in a dark forest, with a thick fog rolling over the ground… Her thoughts were interrupted by the flight attendant loudly making the landing announcements. Gabrielle groaned. She had always hated these disruptions, and tonight was no different.

"_Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I would like to take this time to let you know that we will be landing in Richmond, Virginia, in 10 minutes. The local time is 11:43 pm. Please put up your tray tables and put your seat in the upright position to prepare for our descent. We hope you enjoyed your flight on AirUSA*, and have a pleasant rest of your evening." _The flight attendant hung the phone back up on the hook and began making her way down the aisle. Gabrielle numbly complied when the flight attendant asked for her drink, still think about her dream as she set her nearly full glass of Coke on the passing refreshment cart.

She took a deep breath, and tried to recall her chilling dream, leaning forward until her elbows rested on her knees, and massaged her throbbing temples. She had had a massive headache since she had gotten on this damn plane, and it didn't seem as though it would let up anytime soon. Gabrielle squeezed her eyes shut and tried even harder to bring back her nearly forgotten dream.

She remembered a dark forest-_her _forest-shrouded in fog. She was running through the familiar, broad oaks near her childhood home, their branches scratching her as she ran through them. Fog curled around her bare ankles, making it difficult to see where she was stepping, causing her to trip and fall repeatedly. She was having difficulty catching her breath in the chill, nighttime air, and she shivered in her thin nightgown. She didn't remember what she was running from, but she knew that she needed to get away-fast. So she continued on for what seemed like miles, tripping on every root and dip in the ground. She continually looked over her shoulder, trying to see her pursuer, but she couldn't see through the dense fog and thick branches. She tripped again, and fell to the ground, not bothering to get up. Whatever was chasing her was right behind her. She looked up and saw a large shadow looming over her… and that was where the dream ended.

Gabrielle groaned in frustration. She knew nothing-not why it had scared her so, or even why she felt in every fiber of her being that this dream was important. That it was trying to tell her something. _Well,_ she thought sourly. _Message has not been received._

* * *

Elle switched on the water in the bed and breakfast's tiny shower. Before stepping into the water, she put her hand under the faucet to test the temperature, and then flipped on the switch to turn on the shower head. She then proceeded to step into the nearly scalding water. Ahh, just the way she liked it. She rolled her shoulders, and then her neck, letting her muscles relax under the blisteringly hot water. Elle stared down at her magenta painted toes, then up to the cracking walls, covered with ugly, thin tile. Elle found that, while in a calming environment like the shower, she could ponder things she had encountered that day. This time she attempted to comprehend the meaning of her startling dream, and about what her brothers, too long absent from her life, would say about her arrival in town. Well, when she finally found them, that is.

Elle couldn't decide which was more disconcerting to her, that she couldn't recall the looming shadow of her dream, or the faint voice in the back of her mind that said when she did finally find out who or what it was, she would be unhappy with her findings.

* * *

Damon had left Elle's grave hours ago, mumbling about how he should go back to the lake house and check on Jeremy. Stefan had merely nodded at his excuse, and then Damon quietly slipped off. But Stefan still sat at her grave, staring off into space, remembering her funeral, that fateful day, still needing, after all these years, to come to grips with her death.

It was a cold January that year, that much he could remember. The ground seemed to be frozen solid, making it nearly impossible for their shovels to break the surface, but somehow they managed to dig her grave. Her coffin was a simple oak wood box. Elle's small body looked frail and so… _dead_. Stefan couldn't reconcile the vibrant sister that he knew in that dead body laying in the coffin.

Stefan stood and put a hand over his mouth to keep from shaking, effectively stopping the memory. The memories from that day were too painful, even more so than her actual death. When Gabrielle died, it didn't sink in until later that she was actually _dead, _but on the day of her funeral, Stefan couldn't escape that fact. "Oh, God, I can't do this," he whispered again, feeling tears leaking out of his eyes. This place her grave, brought back the memories of that day, the day he can't seem to escape. He turned and slowly made his way back to his car, heading home.

* * *

Gabrielle had been wandering around downtown Mystic Falls for hours now**, remembering how the town used to be-smaller storefronts, more people, more… life. She wondered where everyone had gone***, but then chastised herself for caring.

She had left her luggage at the bed and breakfast on the outskirts of town, and was just strolling around the familiar streets, waiting for something to happen. For a long-forgotten memory to suddenly be remembered, or maybe just waiting for one of her brothers to find her. She snorted. Like Damon and Stefan would even be looking. She shook her head to clear it. _Focus,_ she told herself.

So she continued to walk down the streets of Mystic Falls, waiting for a sign or something to appear and tell her where to go. Elle was walking quite peacefully, oblivious to her surroundings, submersed in her memories-until someone yanked her roughly into an alley, their large, callused hand covering her mouth to muffle her screams.

* * *

**A/N So, did ya like it? Yes? No? Maybe so? If you could give me feedback that would be AWESOME! I would love, love, ****_love, _****to hear your opinion. If not, eh, whatever, I understand. Or, well, I can ****_try_**** to understand. If you do review, there could be a cookie in it for you… a giant, Oreo and Chocolate Chip monster cookie… XD (Note: cookie is a mental cookie-I give it to you through your brain… if that makes sense…) **

**NOTES! :)**

***To my knowledge, there is no air transportation company called AirUSA. Just want to make that clear. **

****It is about 6 or 7 pm the day after Gabrielle's plane landed. Ya know, just in case you were wondering. XD**

*****No one is around town because everyone is at Mayor Lockwood's funeral. I just went with a plausible situation, so I hope that works.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N I'm so sorry I haven't posted in a while! I have the worst writers block ever. I know where I want to go with the story, but not necessarily how to get there. Grr. Also, the characters may be a little OOC… especially Stefan because I'm terrible at male point of views. Anyway, on a lighter note, let's read! Yay, words! Ooh, before I forget, here's the disclaimer that I forgot for the first few chapters. This will be the only disclaimer I will put, because I don't really want to keep repeating myself. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Vampire Diaries. At all. Books or show. No matter how much I want to. **

* * *

Chapter 3

Stefan couldn't go home. He wasn't ready to go back to normal, back to his life. So he just drove slowly around Mystic Falls, undisturbed by anyone or anything. That is, until his phone began its shrill ring, warning him of an incoming call. Stefan sighed and reluctantly accepted the call. "What is it?" He snapped.

"Jeremy… he got away from me…" Damon's voice came raggedly over the phone. He continued, his breathing loud and uneven. "We were training… and… I don't know… what came over him… he just… went crazy and… ran away."

"WHAT?!" Stefan yelled, abruptly pulling over to the shoulder, his movements jerky.

"He's… he's headed to Mystic Falls… _he's coming, Stefan._" Stefan's heart race increased exponentially. This was not going to be good.

"We have to find him," Stefan replied, in a surprisingly calm voice. "Before he can seriously hurt anyone." Stefan paused, weighing his options. Stay here and wait until Jeremy came to him, or go to the lake house and try to beat him to town? There was no question in Stefan's mind. "I'm on my way. Let's see if we can find him before he gets as far as Mystic Falls." Stefan hung up before Damon could reply, and put the car in drive. He turned the car quickly and expertly around before making his way to the lake house, pulling out his phone to tell the others.

"Caroline? It's Stefan. Be on the lookout tonight - Jeremy's out of control and headed your way." Stefan then clicked the end button and threw his phone into the passenger's seat.

* * *

Her attacker was strong, she would give him that. Almost… unnaturally strong. Elle considered this. Was he one of her old enemies, finally catching up to her? It was plausible - she had pissed off many powerful supernaturals, mostly on purpose. Before she could fully consider the situation, she was turned around and pressed up against the wall of the alley way. She felt a rough, sharp object move toward her ribcage, stopping when it was pressed firmly against her body, nearly impaling her. Shit - a stake. Elle's breathing sped up, adrenaline putting her system into overdrive. She felt her assailant lean in, pushing her ever closer to the wall. "Who are you?" A distinctly male voice growled into her ear, emphasizing his words with a jab from the stake.

"That," Elle said, her voice steely, "Is not information I am willing to give out." Although... If he was sent by her enemies, wouldn't he know who she was? Elle had no time to consider this however. She devoted all of her attention on the man who was moving his face nearer to hers, until his mouth was at her ear and his cheek was pressed against hers.

"Oh well," he said, and Elle could feel his shrug, pressed as she was against him. He chucked darkly, saying, "Goodbye, vampire." Elle could feel the stake being forcefully shoved up her ribcage, and then everything went black.

* * *

I heard the dial tone, and then went into action. I immediately dialed Elena, knowing she would probably be the person Jeremy would go to first, no matter what his state of mind.

"Elena?"

"Caroline? What is it?" Undisguised panic was evident in Elena's voice, and Caroline sighed, knowing she was just going to increase that panic.

"Elena, Jeremy… got away from Damon and is headed our way." Caroline cringed, hoping her friend wouldn't start freaking out. There was a pause on the other line, and then Caroline heard a deep sigh that nearly turned into a sob.

"You're calling to tell me my hunter brother is most likely on his way to kill me."

"Yes," Caroline said gravely. She sighed then unconsciously ran her fingers through her blonde locks. "Look, just be aware of it, okay? I'm going to see if he's already here."

"Let me come wi-" Elena began forcefully, but Caroline cut her off.

"No, you are _not_ coming with me," Caroline said her expression bordering on exasperated. "Just stay home and let us take care of this."

"That's what everyone always says," Elena said acidly. "Why does no one think that I can do anything for myself?" Caroline sighed, then got up from the couch in her living room she had been sitting on, moving towards the door.

"Look, Elena, I can't discuss this with you right now. I have to go look for Jeremy." Elena sounded like she was about to reply, but Caroline didn't give her the chance. She snapped the phone shut and sped down the short hallway between her front door and living room, then left through the front door.

* * *

Her whole world was pain. Pain and an all-consuming darkness. She could faintly hear the breath rattling in her chest, praying every breath would be her last. It was excruciating, this pain, and after experiencing this, even for a few moments, Elle found the idea of death welcome.

_Please, if there is a God, please kill me now. _But it seemed that there wasn't one, or at least there wasn't one who was listening to her plea and feeling inclined to answer it. She could still feel her heart thrumming against her chest, throbbing with every beat.

It was hard to hear over the tattoo her heart was beating against her ribs, but she could still detect the faint sounds of a vampire moving – _running._ Elle felt wind on her face, and could feel someone moving her, picking her up.

She suddenly felt herself being put into a car, of someone laying her down gently. She felt the car move forward, speeding along the narrow streets with ease. _Well,_ Elle thought,_ it __**is**__ a vampire – they can multitask. _

Elle could faintly hear a feminine voice speaking quickly, saying, "Stefan, he may already be here. I found this girl – vampire, I mean – and someone had staked her… Of course it could be a coincidence," she said, sounding insulted, "But with everything that's going on lately, I'm inclined to think otherwise." She said the last part with a huff, sounding quite annoyed. _I wonder what they said to get her all riled up?_

"Look, Stefan, I couldn't just _leave_ her there, you know that… But what do you want me to do about that? … Look, I'm just going to take her to the Boarding House, okay?" The woman grit her teeth loudly in annoyance. "Stefan, it's fine. Find Jeremy and then come home. We can figure this stuff out when you get home." Elle heard the woman sigh, relieved. The woman spoke no more for the rest of the journey.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N I am so, so sorry for all the late updates recently, and especially this **_**extremely**_** late update. But I do have a reason! I've had some terrible writer's block lately, and it only recently cleared up. I know that's no excuse, so I apologize for the wait. Hopefully my update times will become a bit more regular soon, as I have found my inspiration once again! **

Chapter 4

Elle was floating. Well, not floating exactly, but she felt… light, for the first time in a long time. She had no worries, no anger, no hate. No blood staining her hands. She was finally… _free._ She wondered if this was death, peaceful and light. But she disregarded that thought – her death, when it occurred, would be painful, horrible, a never-ending misery. Her death would be hell, in the literal sense of the word. Who had ever heard of the Other Side being peaceful? All of the stories said that it was a sad, lonely place, where you paid penance for your crimes in life. So surely she was still alive.

She experimentally tried to move her disconnected body. She tried to flex her fingers, wiggle her toes, anything. And suddenly she was awake – aware – sitting up on an antique couch in a cozy parlor. Elle's breath came in short gasps, and she studied the room around her frantically, wondering where she was. It looked historical, this house, frozen in time. There were a lot of wooden aspects in the design, and everything seemed tinted red, or some variation of brown. There was a fire roaring in the hearth, casting a warm glow over everything. Not for the first time, Elle felt like this room, this house, was vaguely familiar. But she didn't get to dwell on those thoughts long.

There was a noise from the upper level, and Elle was jerked out of her musings. The instincts that had kept her alive for over 140 years kicked in, and Elle didn't think, she just reacted. Elle leapt off the couch, and crouched ferociously near the stairs. Slowly, with a leonine grace, she crept up the antique wooden steps. Elle didn't make a sound as she made her way up to the second floor.

With her heightened auditory senses, she could hear light footsteps, most likely belonging to a vampire. She also heard a high, feminine voice whispering to herself.

Elle's face was split by a feral smile. She smoothly sank into a hunting crouch, and moved forward, her movements like quicksilver. She rushed into the room and pinned the unknown female against the wall by her throat.

"Where am I?" Elle snarled at the woman. The blonde gave no answer but continued to claw at her throat and Elle's hands, gasping for air.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N I know, I know, I said I would update more regularly, but I still can't seem to be able to. Sorry, guys. :S (my sad, sorry face) Anyway, onto why you are here in the first place. The story!**

* * *

Chapter 5

Driving up to the garage of the Boarding House, Caroline cut the engine and looked back toward the unconscious passenger, assessing her. The girl looked young, maybe 16 or 17, but Caroline knew she must actually be older – in vampire terms, that is. She was slim, and short in stature, but had a smooth musculature about her that belied her strength. The girl had a pert, ski-slope nose, prominent high cheekbones and gently waving chocolate-brown locks – very like Stefan's, now that Caroline thought about it... But the statuesque blonde shook the thoughts out of her head. What did it matter what the girl looked like? She needed help, and that was all that mattered to the compassionate vampire.

Caroline grabbed the handle of her door and got out of her car. Coming around to the back door, she looked at the strange girl through the window for another moment or two, then sighed and opened the door and pulled her out of the car.

She then turned toward the entrance and, heaving the surprisingly light young vampire up to the door of the Boarding House, propped her against the archway as she deftly opened the door, and proceeded to drag the unconscious brunette inside.

* * *

It had been a quiet two hours for Caroline, just sitting and watching the unresponsive girl on the couch, and just sitting there, motionless, was getting old. She sighed for what felt like the millionth time that night, and gracefully rose from her chair, needing to just _move_. It didn't matter where she moved, but she just could not stand to sit any longer.

Ghosting to the window, the heavy crimson curtains pulled aside, Caroline looked out on the night. The immaculate grounds were absolutely silent in the late night darkness. Stefan and Damon probably wouldn't be back for a few hours yet – maybe even longer, depending on how well Jeremy evaded them.

A new course of action was taking form in her mind, and Caroline was now determined to follow it through. She bit her pink bottom lip as she looked back at the girl and decided that it _would_ be okay if she went upstairs for a bit, got away from the monotonous parlor room, maybe practiced her dancing… That thought only fueled her desire to go upstairs. She hadn't danced in what felt like a lifetime, and she was itching to begin again. So Caroline rushed up the beautifully carved mahogany steps leading to the second floor with verve, a faint smile on her face.

Arriving in Zach's old room, which was now a cleared out, empty sort of space, Caroline began her old dance stretches. Distantly, she heard the voice of her old dance teacher say, _"If one does not stretch properly, one might damage one's muscles. And muscles are like strings on a violin for dance – without them, you can't perform."_ One of Ms. Stabroek's favorite things to say before starting class. And Caroline still thought of these very words whenever she stretched, especially during cheer practice.

The blonde vampire rose in a quick, lithe movement, done with her warm up and ready to dance. She shook out her now-loose extremities, and, getting into place, began to dance, keeping an eight count under her breath.

_Oh, God, I forgot how good this feels._

A radiant smile bloomed on Caroline's face. She finally felt _free_, unhampered by anything. It was an amazing feeling, on she had forgotten she could even experience.

And then she was suddenly up against the wall, gasping for every breath.


End file.
